FDA clears COVID boosters for all adults
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday morning authorized the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 boosters for use in all adults, The Washington Post reports. The authorization is a "one-size-fits-all strategy" aimed at both hardening Americans' defenses against the virus" and "widening the booster campaign" to contend with a recent increase in cases, per the Post and The Wall Street Journal.
The Friday decision "essentially makes an additional dose a standard part of COVID-19 vaccinations now," writes the Journal, though some states have already expanded eligibility. Anyone 18 and older and at least six months past their second dose of the vaccine is qualified under the FDA's guidelines.
The move also reflects efforts to get ahead of waning vaccine efficacy, especially as the holidays approach, writes the Post.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The FDA will now pass the torch to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which must also sign off on the authorization before its final approval. The agency is expected to make a decision in accordance with the FDA's by the end of Friday, possibly expanding booster access for millions of Americans as soon as this weekend.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Brigid Kennedy worked at The Week from 2021 to 2023 as a staff writer, junior editor and then story editor, with an interest in U.S. politics, the economy and the music industry.
-
The Week Unwrapped: Why are sinkholes becoming more common?
Podcast Plus, will Saudi investment help create the "Netflix of sport"? And why has New Zealand's new tourism campaign met with a savage reception?
By The Week UK Published
-
How Poland became Europe's military power
The Explainer Warsaw has made its armed forces a priority as it looks to protect its borders and stay close to the US
By Elizabeth Carr-Ellis, The Week UK Published
-
Quiz of The Week: 15 - 21 February
Have you been paying attention to The Week's news?
By The Week Staff Published
-
Ozempic can curb alcohol cravings, study finds
Speed read Weight loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy may also be helpful in limiting alcohol consumption
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
New form of H5N1 bird flu found in US dairy cows
Speed Read This new form of bird flu is different from the version that spread through herds in the last year
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Microplastics accumulating in human brains, study finds
Speed Read The amount of tiny plastic particles found in human brains increased dramatically from 2016 to 2024
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
FDA approves painkiller said to thwart addiction
Speed Read Suzetrigine, being sold as Journavx, is the first new pharmaceutical pain treatment approved by the FDA in 20 years
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Study finds possible alternative abortion pill
Speed Read An emergency contraception (morning-after) pill called Ella could be an alternative to mifepristone for abortions
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
HMPV is spreading in China but there's no need to worry
The Explainer Respiratory illness is common in winter
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
Marty Makary: the medical contrarian who will lead the FDA
In the Spotlight What Johns Hopkins surgeon and commentator Marty Makary will bring to the FDA
By David Faris Published
-
California declares bird flu emergency
Speed Read The emergency came hours after the nation's first person with severe bird flu infection was hospitalized
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published